It may take up to 30 days to clean up the rubble left after a fire destroyed two businesses and a storefront church in the 700 block of Butternut Street this week, a manager of the commercial strip said.

Meanwhile, the owners of the businesses and the church's pastor say they've been evaluating their next steps.

Damon Albus, owner of 5D Hats and Leathers, one of the businesses destroyed, said he has plans to rebuild his store. Albus said he was figuring out what he'll do with his three employees, who have worked for him for years.

Lydia Rodriguez, pastor of Mission Good Samaritan, said her church will hold temporary weekend services at New Life Church, 911 Cypress St. Rodriguez said services will be at 7 p.m. Saturdays and 6 p.m. Sundays until further notice.

"It's going to take a while to rebuild, but we cannot stop" Rodriguez said. "We need to keep going and gather for church. It's a blessing we're able to do that."

The owner of Carolina Upholstery did not return a phone call for comment.

Ronica Coldiron, property manager for McClure Realtors, which owns the commercial strip that housed the businesses, said she has spoken with all tenants to let them know what's going on with cleanup efforts.

Coldiron said the realty company is working with insurance adjusters to try to rebuild as fast as possible.

"We're helping them anyway that we can," she said. "They (the tenants) want to be there, they want to be in those locations again. It's not like those businesses just do business in the community, they do business across the state. I know they're going to be back in business somewhere, but we would like them to come back."

The two-alarm fire that was reported just after 7 a.m. Tuesday took hours to subdue, and was ruled accidental Wednesday, said Lt. Greg Goettsch, a spokesman with the Abilene Fire Department.

No injuries were reported. Goettsch said investigators believe the blaze started in Carolina Upholstery and quickly spread to the adjoining 5D Hats and Leathers and the church.

The fire was the latest destructive blaze in Abilene since the Matera Paper Company caught fire on Feb. 21. The three-alarm blaze ripped through the 105-year-old historic building at the corner of South First and Oak streets.

A permit to clean up the rubble from the Matera fire will expire soon, said Ed McRoy, Abilene's assistant director of planning and development services.

McRoy said the managing member of Abilene Matera LLC has a restoration permit that expires Oct. 2. If an extension is granted but no progress in made, the city has the right to condemn the property and send the file before the Board of Building Standards, an appointed committee that can levy additional requirements on the property owner, or order the property demolished, which would be performed by the city, McRoy said.